Review a compact Applied Financial Planning Exam 2 cheat sheet for case reading, dominant issue triage, response structure, professional conduct, cash flow, insurance, investment, tax, retirement, and estate planning before Finance Prep vignette practice.
Use this AFP Exam 2 cheat sheet as a case-synthesis checklist before vignette practice. The exam is case-based, so the strongest response identifies the dominant issue, supports it with client facts, and frames a defensible recommendation or next step.
| Item | AFP Exam 2 cue |
|---|---|
| Provider | CSI |
| Exam | Applied Financial Planning Certification Examination - AFP Exam 2 |
| Format | four case studies with related constructed-response questions in 3 hours |
| Main practice behavior | case reading, issue ranking, evidence selection, and response structure |
| Finance Prep status | live companion vignette practice available |
| Domain | Weight | What to know | Common trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Conduct and Regulatory Compliance | 10% | ethics, disclosure, duty, referral, professional boundaries | giving technical advice when the conduct issue should control |
| Client Relationship and Practice Management | 7% | engagement scope, client communication, assumptions, missing facts | answering before clarifying what the planner knows |
| Asset and Liability Management | 13% | cash flow, debt, liquidity, household balance-sheet constraints | recommending a strategy the cash flow cannot support |
| Risk Management and Insurance | 12% | exposure, coverage amount, ownership, beneficiary, implementation | naming a policy without explaining the planning problem |
| Investment Planning | 15% | allocation, account type, risk capacity, tax, liquidity, objective | solving the portfolio while ignoring tax or retirement constraints |
| Tax Planning | 14% | after-tax tradeoffs, deductions, credits, deferral, taxable events | letting arithmetic replace the planning conclusion |
| Retirement Planning | 19% | retirement-income need, sequencing, pensions, withdrawals, longevity | missing the retirement fact that controls the case priority |
| Estate Planning | 10% | wills, powers of attorney, trusts, beneficiaries, control, transfer | treating estate planning as only beneficiary naming |
For each AFP Exam 2 case miss, write three lines: controlling fact, recommended action or next step, and why the rejected option is weaker. If your response becomes a list of ideas, return to focused case pages and practise ranking the dominant issue first.